Survey Says IT Worker Stress Way Down, Pride Up

Stress Levels Plunge

Eleven percent of entry- to mid-level IT professionals and 13 percent of senior IT professionals consider the work they are currently doing to be the most stressful of their career, a significant decrease from the 30 percent and 32 percent respectively that said the same in 2014. This reduction seems to have led to a situation where fewer professionals feel that stress would cause them to seek alternative employment or consider less compensation to escape stress.

TEKsystems' Take: There has been a steep decrease in IT professionals' stress levels since 2014. This may have led them to reflect upon the impact of past work stress from a more positive perspective, with fewer now indicating that a stressful work situation would lead them to switch jobs or take a pay cut in order to avoid their stressors.

According to a new report from TEKsystems, a leading provider of IT staffing solutions, the tech industry has seen a vast improvement in the IT working environment over the past year. Stress levels are down significantly from the last few years, and IT staff appear to be on top of their workloads and finally able to take some well deserved, and uninterrupted, downtime. Additionally, IT staff reported a renewed pride in their work and growing responsibility. Overall, the survey results point to a vast positive change in the stability of IT staffing environments as compared to a year ago.

"This year certainly paints a much rosier picture than last year — we've seen a significant drop in stress and a positive swing in pride and satisfaction," said TEKsystems Research Manager Jason Hayman. "While it's encouraging, organizations still need to ensure that their talent management and workforce strategies are aligned to avoid overworked staff, unrealistic workloads or internal discord if they want to continue this positive momentum."

The findings represent the views of over 1,000 IT professionals. Key highlights are featured in this slideshow.